We hope you enjoy this month's edition of our operational excellence newsletter. Please take a few minutes to read the article on Bosch's Shark Tank Approach to Continuous Improvement to foster higher levels of collaboration in the organization.

Quantum Associates, Inc

Operational Excellence Newsletter 
  

 Delivering Swift and Significant Results 


 "
Our groove is to help you improve."

  


May 2016

Lean Practices Can Help Any Business


I started practicing Lean Management in the 1980's when I was responsible for the smooth operation of 16 adhesives manufacturing plants, and believe me I have heard nearly all of the reasons why Lean will not work in a given business. Excuses such as "We are low volume, high mix," "We are high volume, low mix," "We are a custom shop," "We are not manufacturing," "We don't make automobiles" and the ultimate excuse, "We are unique."

It is true that each business is different or "unique" and the Lean approach needs to be customized for each individual company. In all of my years of experience, I have never run into a situation where Lean did not have the opportunity to considerably improve a company's safety, quality, delivery, lead-time, cost, customer satisfaction, employee morale and stockholder value.
 
The origins of Lean rest with the Toyota Production System implemented decades ago. Toyota was inspired by some of our industrial and quality leaders like Henry Ford, Fredrick Taylor, W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran to name a few. The key thought is that because each company is different, you cannot blindly adopt what works for Toyota or any other company for that matter, you must adapt Lean principles to fit your business.
 
Lean is a mindset, a way of thinking with a commitment to achieve a totally waste -free organization that is driven by the customer. It is about leading with respect and full employee involvement. Lean is achieved by simplifying and continuously improving all your processes (administrative and manufacturing). I challenge any business, no matter how "unique", where this concept doesn't apply.

Some of the benefits achieved through the proper implementation of Lean are as follows:
 
  • A minimum of 50 percent improvement in quality defects per year
  • 99 percent On-Time Delivery to Customer Request Date
  • Reduction in customer lead-time of 50 percent per year
  • 15-20 percent improvement in productivity per year
  • Double digit inventory turns within the first two years
  • Significant improvement in market share as a result of better service and quality
 
The organization's shareholders benefit as well, such as a sweeping improvement in employee morale as they become more involved in designing and improving the work processes they operate on a day-to-day basis. Customer satisfaction significantly increases as your quality and lead-times improve. Finally, your stockholders experience the benefit through higher quality earnings and a solid balance sheet.

In the final analysis, any business (service or manufacturing) has the potential to flourish from Lean. I have never witnessed a situation where Lean, when properly implemented, did not have a significant impact. In order to realize the full benefits of Lean, leadership needs to lead with respect and be fully committed, resisting the tendency to revert to the old way of doing things. 


Willie
"Our groove is to help you improve"
In This Issue
Lean Office: Let's Get Serious About Lowering the Water Level
Lean Thinking and Culture
Enhance Your Continuous Improvement Capability With "Raise the BaR"
Bosch Takes "Shark Tank" Approach to Continuous Improvement
Lean Office: Let's Get Serious About Lowering the Water Level
 Contributor:Dan Markovitz

... unlike operators in a factory, office workers and executives don't lower the water level at all. In fact, it's just the opposite. The more problems they have with flow (lousy meetings, unexpected firefights, etc.), the more buffers they add. They raise the water level! They stay at the office till 9...(Read More)


Lean Thinking and Culture
Contributor: Dolf Kahle

The key to lean is developing ideas from the bottom up, starting with a lean culture from the top down. The top has to walk the talk daily. The top must champion lean and endorse the program...(Read More)


Enhance Your Continuous Improvement Capability With "Raise the BaR"
 Contributor: Aaron Azzopardi
One of the main reasons that Continuous Improvement programs fail is because they lack the necessary employee engagement. This lack of commitment is due to the fact that most of the times these programs are seen as a threat by the workers, rather than a challenge or an opportunity. This is because they are often driven from the top down and do not empower the workforce...(Read More)


Bosch Takes "Shark Tank" Approach to Continuous Improvement
Contributor: Laura Putre

Managers at the Bosch Rexroth plant in Charlotte, N.C., describe their 
quarterly continuous improvement competition as Shark Tank style, but the mood is closer to a dolphin swim meet...(Read More)


Our Reason for Being

Quantum Associates was founded on the premise of bringing together like-minded associates with multiple years of industry experience reducing waste and improving processes in organizations. Our goal is to leverage the knowledge and experience of our seasoned associates to assist both service and manufacturing organizations train their employees to untangle intermingled processes in order to clearly see the specific process they manage or touch as it flows from start to finish and to improve the performance of those processes so that every stakeholder (customer, employee, supplier, investor) is better off. We serve as the nucleus for delighting your customers by preparing your people to improve their processes.

What We Look For in a Client

We look for companies/organizations who want to untangle their processes in order to clearly see how to improve the performance (efficiency, productivity, customer experience) of those processes so that every stakeholder (customer, employee, supplier, and investor) is better off.


We guarantee 100% customer satisfaction absolutely.
 
"Our groove is to help you improve."

 
To learn more about how to untangle your processes contact us today at 847-919-6127 or email [email protected].

Enjoy the Newsletter, 
Willie
Willie Carter
President 
Certified Lean Sensei
Certifed Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence
Certified ISO 9000 Lead Assessor
 
 
"All improvement happens project by project and in no other way." ~ Joseph Juran

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